George Groves: “Carl Froch Has Made It”

Interview – Declan Warrington

BN: Would this tour happen – would you guys become the friends you are now – if you won that night at Wembley?

gg: [Pauses] I’m not sure. I don’t know if Carl is proud of this achievement [of the occasion], like I’m proud of the achievement, if to the contrary, because Carl has had so many other great nights and achievements. The story is, he hit me the first time, albeit controversially; if I beat him a second time it will highlight the first one…

I like to think we will, to be honest. He’s a lot more mature – nine years on, we’re both more mature people who’ve been away from boxing for a long time. I think we will.

He’s had 10 world titles before that, back-to-back. He was in a good space. My story finally won the world title, on the fourth attempt.

patient: How much easier would it be to be with him and revisit it to the extent you do, if you win?

GG: I really feel fine with it all. Comfortable with the way it went. I appreciate Carl. It sounds weird but I can appreciate what he was going through at the time. Sympathy for him; sympathize with him. I find him quite approachable; he is a retired boxer and former world champion. There are not dozens and dozens of us. I appreciate his struggles; his journey. He doesn’t have everything his own way, and everything he achieves feels pretty hard. Mine is the same.

BN: How jealous are you – if anything – of his career ending compared to yours?

GG: That’s great. I say envy, and I say it at night [An Evening with Carl Froch and George Groves] and I say it like a joke, just because it’s a miracle. I’m happy for him, even though it’s weird, because I appreciate the harder times he went through; the struggles he had. He achieved it. It couldn’t be better for him. Knocking out an opponent, on the biggest stage, in a big game, and because it was such a big game – and because I played well – the whole thing became so much more real. If I lose that war and nothing happens [later in my career], then he probably wouldn’t be in a happier place. “Yeah, so what? He beat me – he had to work hard to get there.” Takes a lot of stickiness for it. On paper he’s probably thinking, “I [Lucian] Bute wins better; mine [Arthur] Abraham’s victory is better; This win is better; That win is better.” Now he can say that – I didn’t go on to have many world titles, unification, or anything like that, but – throughout my career, I was a legitimate senior boxer. and I’ve been #1 in my department for a long time. short time. I was legal. So I’m happy for him.

I won’t change what happened to me, for fear of not being who I am today. I am happy with who I am. I’m happy because right now, I don’t want to go back to boxing. If I had won, I might have wanted one or two more. [fights]. If I win and stop, I might be desperate to get back there and check out the waters. I am sometimes described as “Losing the last battle; over the hill”; the fact that a few months ago I beat Chris Eubank Jnr; I’m in my life form; people have never talked about me being so tall. The last camp wasn’t great and I got injured fighting with [Callum] Smith, but Smith is an elite, high-class boxer, and he’s moved into lightweight and proven his worth. I’m great – I wouldn’t trade my career for him, but at the same time he wouldn’t trade his career for mine. You are who you are, and you have to live and enjoy it.

patient: Do you often think about that night at Wembley?

GG: Different from [when making appearances alongside Froch], never, really. It never came to me in passing thoughts – perhaps because I have to talk about it quite often now. And like I said, I’m fine with that – I’m fine with being myself. That’s who I am and who I am. People tell me they were at Wembley, and they can tell me they were there when I beat Eubank – that usually comes up when Eubank is in the news too. If they were really old fans, they’d tell me they were there for DeGale, and they’d say they were there when I beat [Fedor] Chudinov. But it’s always been Wembley, and I’m fine with Wembley, and now, because I go on tour and talk about it – and that’s our little mark in boxing history – it’s an important chapter in boxing. Man, that’s great.

George Groves attends Disney & Pixar’s VIP family screening of “Lightyear” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on June 11, 2022 (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)

BN: What does he rank among the best you’ve fought?

GG: He’s probably the best. I rate Froch over Badou Jack. The best version of Froch and the best version of Jack – Froch can defeat him more times than the other way around. [James] DeGale would give Froch a night of hard work on his day, because he’s tall and elusive; he is nampaw; he is hard to nail. I don’t know if Froch will be as successful against DeGale as I did. At the same time, he could have both swept him and leveled him, so it’s hard to tell. I’m going to Froch.

BN: What’s the most personal moment you’ve shared since getting to know each other?

GG: Sometimes we just gossip. Sometimes it’s about life after boxing. How are we thinking; How are we feeling? It could be a little whining about someone; the general conversation you have, ex-boxer with ex-boxer. We don’t really have a moment about Wembley or our rivalry or anything like that. Sometimes I still surprise him when I say something nice about him, and sometimes he shocks me when he says something nice about me. It’s usually a mutual respect for each other’s accomplishments.

BN: You also became friendly with his brother, Lee…

GG: Lee is great. He’s a lovely guy, but he’s an intense guy. He explained to me dozens of times how bad he really was around the time Carl and I were boxing, and that’s why we were at odds. He was a stress reliever for me – to Carl, I had to be perfect, professional, and for that – while I was able to show a slightly different side to Lee. I could be a little more sloppy, and a little more unprofessional. As time passed, everyone suffered. In that respect, Lee and Carl are indeed very similar. Now both are fine, both are great and we move on.

I appreciate how difficult it can be for Lee to have Carl Froch as your brother, he did a great job and I sympathize with Carl when I thought he was preparing me, and he His son is a real mess. Someone he is close to.

BN: What do you think of the photo before the first fight, the one that almost depicts you facing a bully?

GG: I remember doing that, hoping it would look like and someone would take a picture of it. It wasn’t planned – it was completely organic. You listen to people talk about being stoic. Stoic was almost motionless. The calm in the chaos – always be present in the moment, because you don’t move to be distracted. You are just there. I wanted Carl’s attention, and I thought, “This might get Carl’s attention,” and thought, “This is probably going to be scary; ‘Why was he just standing there looking?'”.

I had the mentality of a bully in that first battle, and I feel I have every right to have the mentality of a bully, because I think people are trying to take advantage of me. “If I stand there, in the middle of the ring, facing him, and if someone gets out of the way and he sees me… then I’ll be there.” Also, it’s a show for me, and it’s a show for the crowd. I want the crowd to notice and be like, “What the hell, man?” It’s almost a big lifeless thing, which I want. I’m a spoiler in the build, and thus almost like a loose cannon. Right there and then I felt like, “I’m so calm right now; I am very calm”; Stillness is important to show. Usually you’re in the corner, strutting around; keep warm; focus on the fight; undulating and weaving; slide and slide; usually get instructions from your corner. It was just an organic moment. Paddy stood next to look a little; Luke Watkins; security… We are ready. We’re ready, and if you’re not, you’re in for a world of trouble.

patient: Are you overconfident before those fights and are you guilty of underestimating Froch?

GG: No. Sure enough, in the first battle, I participated in any way I could. I’m ready for anything all the time and try to put that into the fight. The game plan worked great – I told everyone about the game plan. To go out, take the center of the ring, so don’t put your hind foot in the box and try to squeeze him. You know he’ll try to put out the fire, then hit him with his right hand; power shot. The first battle took place. You have to live and breathe it in real time, in the moment, and the fight is the war – I can’t beat myself up about being able to do better or have a different outcome.

In the second game, I was just as focused as the first game. Second battle, much work to do. I really had to make a lot of decisions myself. Leading from the front; carry out the fight; promotion pressure; and no one shouldered the burden. “What is it like for you? What are you going to do here? What would you recommend?” I want to chat with Paddy Fitzpatrick, my coach and Barry O’Connell [my conditioner], but he was a royal marine who had never boxed in his life, and Paddy was an amateur trainer who spent occasional time in a professional gym. He had a professional career but never got anywhere. They were always there, and I really appreciate those guys for investing so much in the battle, but the build-up to the second battle we didn’t see directly was the same as the first.

Our success, despite our defeat, in the first battle affected everyone. Now everyone feels they have something to run after, and that’s hard. A different type of fighter might have felt a different outcome, but Carl is still a good fighter. He is dangerous; he’s super healthy; he’s ready for it; he has a wonderful chin; he can punch hard; he has long arms. You don’t go free with Carl, because he’s a good finisher, and at all times he carries his power through rounds, to death. So I had to turn on uber; up there. Really, there was distraction – this can happen 100 times in a match – but you only really realize it when someone makes you pay for it. I said that to Carl the day before; he agrees. Sure it’s there; it’s audio engineering; it has been established to a certain extent. But other than that, that’s not the driving force of the war – I’ll be stopped at that point. It was out of the blue. I don’t think I overlooked Carl or was overconfident. Second fight, I believe I can do it with Carl [for the first fight]; now i know. Be brave with your beliefs about what you are capable of, which will ultimately make you a better fighter and perform better. I was in a better frame than mine for the second fight. It was not successful.